he sent us a cartoon rather than a chart. he weighed in on the attacks being launched as people like us who are using data to talk about the election. it says quote, breaking, to surprise a sun dit the best system for determining which of two things is wiser. we posted these charts and a bunch of others. i'll tweet a link to them. that does it for tonight. and now it is time for the last word.i. . right now on first look --

d-day for president obama and congressional leaders. automatic tax cuts and smaller paychecks hang in the balance. american military hero, four-star general known as stormin' norman schwarzkopf has died. a fiscal milk cliff is looming. bears over the bruins in the holiday bowl. good morning, even as the finger pointing continues on capitol hill this morning, new hope on a deal to avoid that fiscal cliff. president obama will be meeting with congressional leaders later today. danielle leigh joins us. >> that meeting in many ways a last opportunity for the president and congressional leaders to reach a deal and get something done before this year is over. if this meeting is unsuccessful it could seal this country's

fate, as some developments yesterday. house members no longer on stand by. ready to come back sunday. to take a vote. when these tax cuts expire just about every worker is going to see their paycheck reduced. it's going to eliminate unemployment extensions and initiate spending cuts across the board. >> how will people see this in their paychecks and in their taxes? >> workers will feel it immediately in their paychecks. those paychecks will be reduced. those making 40,000, 50,000 are going to see 1700 less a year. it continues as the wages increase. so people are going to feel this in their pocketbooks. >> all right, danielle, thank you. last night on the rachel

maddow show, debbie stab nau talked about the looming fiscal cliff. >> i'm not sure what's next. i can tell you, the senate's here, we're in session, we had votes tonight. the president is here. i'm the eternal optimist. we can pass the farm bill that we passed last june. by cutting subsidies for wealthy farmers. so, there's a lot of things that we can do but it's going to take the speaker deciding that he wants to work across the aisle to get it done. >> you can catch the rachel maddow show right here on msbnc on 9:00. retired four-star general norman schwarzkopf died thursday at his home in tampa, florida.

he was 78. the hard-charging general, was most famous for leading coalition forces to victory during the first persian gulf war in 1991. under his command it took troops just six weeks to drive saddam hussein's army out of kuwait. gener schwarzkopf is survived by his wife brenda and their three children. former president george h.w. bush are main street in intensive care this morning. while mr. bush's condition is serious, in an e-mail, a spokesperson said for the family said that the president hasn't lost his sense of humor. of the recent outpouring of

concern and support, the family spokesperson said, i don't think that the heaven hasn't seen a barrage of prayer since it's a wonderful life. parts of the northeast and midwest are still digging out from the last two winter storms, which has left as much 65% of the country covered in snow as of thursday morning. snowfall totals in parts of new york and vermont range from 10 to 16 inches. folks are trying to make the most of it. snow blowers are out in force. kids are enjoying snow, too. roads are slick even if they have been plowed. now, here's your first look at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. the first time in history that the turnout of blacks exceeded

that of white voters, won't be confirmed until the spring until the census bureau publishes its results of the election. matt damon, in an interview, damon said that he sometimes feels the game is rigged and no matter how hard you work to change things it doesn't matter, end quote. t54% of americans have a favorable view of the gun owners group. a usa today/gallup support that is higher for stricker gun controls. he was appointed e wednesday replacing the late daniel

inouye. ed marchky plans to run for kerry's seat. they picket funerals of american soldiers. people have signed a white house petition on the website to legally recognize the group as a hate group. and that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. and now for a look at the weather here's nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer. the timing of these, right through the holidays, but we aren't looking for this one to be much of a mess in the northeast, maybe three inches, tops, on the higher side of this storm system, where is it right now? it's located across texas, arkansas, all rain right now, as it moves into the northeast, it's going to stay just to the south of the new england, that will allow the colder air to get

wrapped into this whole storm system. as of right now, it looks like the storm will exit off the mid-atlantic coastline. if it back further back, it will be a bigger storm for the northeast. we also have a winter weather advisory in arkansas again as we go through this morning, mostly because of freezing rain that we're seeing in that area. mostly all rain from pine bluff, arkans arkansas, down to houston, texas. we also have some snow showers from minneapolis right over into green bay, arkansas. stretching down into des moines, iowa, as well. this whole system is finally pulling away. snow showers across maine. the wind is easing and

precipitation is winding down as well. this storm system is a saturday event. mostly rain from southern new jersey down through delaware and mostly rain across the eastern tip of long island and into cape cod. you go inland just a little bit where it goes from rain over to snow and that scenario where we can see about 3 to 5 inches. again, if this storm backs a little closer to land, we would see those higher amounts push back into central massachusetts and connecticut. for the most part, new york city, about an inch or so. new york, connecticut, western massachusetts, we should pick up about 3 inches out of this storm. >> all right, dylan, thanks so much. coming up -- a million-dollar t-rex smuggling ring. adam lanza's dna will be studied. plus, who are hollywood's most bankable stars.

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welcome back. some stories making news this morning -- this just in -- russian president vladimir putin has signed a bill banning americans from adopting russian children. scientists plan to study the dna of adam lanza, the 20-year-old who shot and killed 26 people at sandy hook elementary school in connecticut december 14th. they hope to find an abnormality that could possibly point to an inclination toward violence. hillary clinton will return to work next week after the stomach flu and a concussion sidelined her for three weeks. some good news for law enforcement. the number of police officers killed in 2012 fell by 23%.

the first full year that two police safety programs were in effect. with just four days left until the end of the year. next to the criminal world of dinosaur smugglers. a fossil dealer from florida admitted to sneaking stolen dinosaur bones into the u.s. the bones included a 70 million-year-old tyronnasaurus. from the cute file, we have been tracking this panda from the san diego zoo. he tips the scales at 4 pounds. he had a little bit of fun, chewing on a bamboo and playing in a plastic ring. now to the some of the most annoying words of 2012.

the marist poll puts twitterverse at number five. once again, for the fourth year in a row, whatever tops the list as the most irritating word on the list. some of the most annoying words in its annual survey, we have it in twice. the dow lost 18 on thursday. closing at 13,096. the s&p 500 was down a point. overseas markets fared slightly better. as those fiscal cliff worries become mo, the stocks skidded on thursday. on news that house members will return to negotiations on sunday evening. the latest penning home sales data comes out at 9:00.

the dairy industry is calling it the milk cliff. if congress doesn't approve a farm bill, the price of milk could skyrocket from 3.65 to as much as 8. all dairy products will be affected. now to another looming crisis, dock workers at more than a dozen ports across the country are threatening to walk out on the job sunday. strikes along the east coast will create a domino effect. the white house is urging an agreement as quickly as possible. month will rents are on the rise. it's up 3.7% over last year. travelers have attempted to carry 1500 firearms onboard airports in 2012.

a separate report found that most firearms were confiscated at atlanta's heartsfield airport. sea world is hoping to make a big splash by going public. it's hoping to pay down debt by going public. no word on a stock price for investing in shamu. where do you get the best bang for your buck in hollywood? natalie portman, averages $42.70. shia labeouf brings in $35.80. and daniel radcliffe rakes in about $30 for every dollar he earns. a sandy hook scammer is busted and tim tebow gets shoved aside again.

police are on the lookout for their crooks who nabbed over $30,000 in loot in including four guns, you're watching first look on msnbc.

. there's your first look at some of the other news going on, we begin with a christmas morning raid on a new mexico walmart where thieves stole over 30,000 merchandise. it netted cash, electronics, jewelry and four rifles all

while a security guard patrolled outside. she allegedly conned donors to fund a fake funeral the scheme could send her prison for five years. the gun buyback recently hit los angeles, police collected over 2,000 firearms including a rocket launcher photographed by the l.a. times there's the website and there's that rocket larger. in utah, gun advocates locked in to a free firearm training class. many of the 200 people in attendance were teachers, utah's one of the few states that permits people to carry licensed concealed weapons into schools without exception. a trooper nirnly had no clue

how 22 horses turned up in his house. it wasn't the work of santa overall. the owners have come forward saying they have escaped. in college basketball, new mexico upset cincinnati. 55-54. in the nba, in overtime, oklahoma city's russell westbrook gave the thunder the lead as they beat dallas, 111-105. the miami heat's d-wade has been suspended for tonight's game in detroit for an incident on wednesday. in new york, the jets have passed over tim tebow once again, going back to quarterback mark sanchez to start their last game of the season. and now to a few college bowl games, first the military bowl, 24th ranked san jose state took the lead in the third quarter on a 18-yard touchdown

play. they went on to win over bowling green. on to the holiday bowl, i can't read this one. >> i went to rutgers. i'm not used to going to the bowl games anyway. in the holiday, baylor jumped out to an early lead against ucla and the bears crushed the bruins. 49-26. >> you had to rub it in. there's always next year. thank you for your help. now for another look at the weather, dylan. >> from sports to weather, we're still talking about the chance maybe a three-inch snowstorm moving into the northeast for the weekend. but for temperatures right now, it's not too cold in the northeast, chilly but seasonally so. temperatures in the 20s and 30s. wind chills down in the teens. well below zero. for your friday, nice and quiet in the northeast.

a couple of spotty snow showers from minneapolis over into chicago. for tomorrow, the rain that we're seeing across louisiana today is going to turn into that coastal storm, it looks like it's going to stay mostly to the southeast of texas. >> all right, thank you so much. and thank you for the help on that sports story. coming up -- the late hear larry hagman in reality show. entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. m even more. i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. that's 1% back on... [ toy robot sounds ] 2% on pumpkin pie. and apple. 3% back on 4 trips to the airport. it's as easy as... -[ man ] 1... -[ woman ] 2... [ woman ] 3. [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards card.

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welcome back. this video gave us a chuckle. monkeys at a japanese zoo have found a new way to combat the cold, sitting around the campfire. monkeys flock to get their hands on the warm treats. well the most pirated movie of 2012 is probably one you haven't seen, high school party project x, was illegally downloaded. runner-up includes mission impossible ghost protocol. katie holmes' broadway show dead accounts, the show is closing seven weeks ahead of show. academy award voting is online for the first time. a spokesman for the academy said issues are arising because members keep forgetting their

pads words. fontella bass has died at the age of 72. finally, dallas star larry hagman will be appearing posthumous posthumous posthumously, he'll be playing a cost koe worker handing out free samples. >> i would be kind of dumb to the whole thing, i don't know what's going on. especially clueless. this is "first look" on msnbc. way too early starts right now.